Floor cleaning machines often create dust as a by-product of normal operations. For example, burnishers are used to remove one or more layers of wax or other coatings from a hard surface floor, such as composition tile. A rotating pad in the burnisher is in contact with the built-up wax on the floor. As the pad rotates, one or more layers of wax are removed from the floor, restoring the shine to the surface. Dust is normally created as a by-product of this wax removal process. The dust can be troublesome as it settles on almost everything in the surrounding environment. For example, in a grocery store, the dust accumulates on canned goods, bottles, produce, and shelving. In an office, the dust accumulates on furniture, bookshelves, word processing equipment, and other office equipment. In a warehouse, the dust accumulates on boxes, racks and other products. Cleaning personnel spend extra time dusting after a floor has been burnished with prior art burnishers that do not have any kind of dust control apparatus. The industry has recognized a need for burnishers with some type of dust control apparatus.
Pioneer Eclipse® of Sparta, N.C. (www.pioneer-eclipse.com) sells at least two burnishers with dust control apparatus. One model with dust control apparatus is called the Speed Star™ and the other is called the Revolution™.
The Speed Star™ burnisher from Pioneer Eclipse® attempts to collect dust in a dust bag. A non-floating scoop is rigidly attached to the underside of the pad housing above the pad driver and the pad. The scoop is curved and feeds up through the pad housing to a throat that attaches to the dust bag. The dust bag can be removed from the throat to be emptied. A propane-powered engine drives a belt, which causes the pad to rotate. The belt connects to a drive pulley. A pulley cover isolates the belt and the drive pulley. In other words, there is no inlet into the pad housing to facilitate airflow through the scoop and throat and into the dust bag. As a result, there is only a modest amount of dust collected in the cloth dust bag.
The Revolution™ burnisher from Pioneer Eclipse® attempts to collect dust in a removable filter, instead of a cloth dust bag. A non-floating scoop is rigidly attached to the underside of the pad housing above the pad driver and the pad. The scoop is curved and feeds up through the pad housing into a plastic throat, which feeds into a filter housing. The filter can be removed from the filter housing for cleaning or to be replaced. A propane-powered engine drives a belt, which causes the pad to rotate. The belt connects to a drive pulley on top of the pad housing. In other words, there is no inlet into the pad housing to facilitate airflow through the scoop and the throat into the filter housing. As a result, there is only a modest amount of dust collected in the filter and the filter housing. There is still a need for a floor cleaning machine that does a better job of dust control.
Dust control is also a concern in the design and manufacture of sanders for hardwood floors. The Information Disclosure Statement filed concurrently herewith includes an advertising brochure from Clarke American Sanders entitled “Dust Control Floor Sanders.” The brochure has a picture of an orbital sander showing the vacuum fan and a disposable paper filter/collection bag. The apparatus includes a floating skirt to contain dust. The inlet for the dust is positioned on the top of the deck of the sander, not on the side of the sander. This Brochure also pictures a disk sander with a vacuum adapter that connects to any vacuum system with an 1Â½ inch diameter vacuum hose. This sander also has a floating skirt that directs the dust to a pick-up chamber. Again, the inlet or pick-up chamber for the dust is positioned on the top of the deck and not on the side of the sander. Also included in the Information Disclosure Statement, is brochure from Clarke American Sanders entitled “Professional Dust Control Sanding System.” This Brochure shows a disk sander with vacuum adapter connected to a portable vacuum cleaner. Again, the inlet for the dust is on the top of the deck of the sander and not on the side of the sander. There still is a need for improved dust control systems in floor cleaning machines.